This is a Shift for when you’re having a tough time — and to share with someone who may be struggling today.
Hello hello,
I'm so glad you stopped by.
Come listen to the sounds of the beach in the background, and shift your state of mind with me anytime.
OnePerfect Shift out of feeling horrible.
So you’re feeling horrible, huh?
That sucks.
You may find what I'm going to share with you to be helpful though.
It has been for me.
And it definitely has been for a lot of people I've worked with and people I’ve lived with.
So know that there’s some hope, just from that.
And let’s get going — let’s start with just a small shift.
Set an intention to shift into a more ideal state of mind over the next few minutes.
Got it?
Did you set your intention?
OK, good.
Now let’s take a long deep breath.
Good.
And one more.
Nice.
As I thought over the challenge of making a shift, and the importance of making a shift when you’re feeling really down, I thought about the times I felt worst in my life.
And I thought about the people I love most, and the many other people I've met when they were feeling near their worst, or at their worst.
We’ve all been on that spectrum — the spectrum of feeling horrible, or feeling terrible, somewhere along the way in life — at least once or twice, if not more often than that.
So you are unique.
But you're not alone with this experience of feeling horrible, or horribly.
It's part of real life.
It’s also a fact that you are always welcome here, to OnePerfect Shift.
We’re part of your community now.
And just reminding yourself of that is a step toward feeling better.
Otherwise, the best I have to offer you right now to make a shift is to share a few of the most effective things that I know of that you can do when you're feeling really down.
So, we already went over the first one — know that you can come back here to practice shifting into your more ideal state of mind anytime you want to.
And be aware it may take regular steps.
It takes a little time.
But there's definitely hope that things will get better.
And that’s a great thing you can do to amplify them getting better, and to accelerate it.
So let’s take together now the biggest, deepest, longest breath you've ever taken, to begin a shift.
Breathe in and hold it.
—
Now breathe out.
Okay, even deeper this time.
Breathe in.
And hold it.
—
And out.
Can you go even deeper this time?
Ready?
Breathe in.
—
Hold it.
Hold it.
Hold it.
—
And out.
All right.
That’s a good start.
Now, get yourself something to eat or drink.
Your priority right now is to get yourself comfortable.
And then we'll continue.
So go grab some comfort food.
Pause if you need to.
—
Okay, got your comfort food and drink?
Good.
I want you to come 100% into the present moment with me right now.
We're going to do that by choosing any object in our environment.
Just pick an object.
Any object will do.
Got your object?
And recognize the fact that you can shift your attention into any object you choose means that you can direct your attention in any way you choose, anytime.
In other words, you can choose to shift your attention anywhere you want to shift it, anytime you want to.
You have control of your attention.
You’ve just demonstrated that to yourself.
So get ready to study your object now for the next 10 seconds, just looking at it.
And while you study it, notice something new about it, like the way the light shines on it, or fades away from it, or how it's in the shade, or any little stains you hadn’t noticed before, or just the beautiful colors of life.
Be with it.
Ready?
Study your object for 10 seconds.
—
Good.
Now that your attention is more focused in the present moment, you're a little bit more present, right?
And you're a little bit less distracted by thoughts that amplify concerns or judgments spinning in your mind.
The fact that human beings feel horrible sometimes, and that those same human beings also feel great sometimes, gives us this undeniable hope that you will likely feel different in the future than you felt earlier.
In fact, you may even feel great in the future.
And the best way that I know of to move into your future when you're feeling down, is just to take particular steps in the direction of connecting to your personal unique purpose.
Your purpose — why you're here.
And a great step towards connecting to purpose is to develop effective strategies for shifting your attention, just as we're doing now.
But when you're feeling horrible, basically I suggest you don't try to bite too much off.
So for today, just set an intention to complete reading this post, or listening to this post, and remain as present as you can for the rest of the day.
So set that intention.
You’re going to remain as present as you can.
Letting all the distracting thoughts and judgments go for the rest of the day.
Did you set the intention?
Okay, good job.
That's strategic.
So now, let's move on to trying a different object.
Choose a different object for a little while.
Focus 100% of your attention on it.
Let's go for 15 seconds this time.
And if your attention wanders any time during that 15 seconds, if you get carried away by stories in your mind, just choose a different object, and focus on that new object for 15 seconds, instead.
Ready?
OK, study your new object for 15 seconds.
Go.
—
Great job.
Good.
You've taken a mini-step now towards feeling better. And you've connected to the present moment intentionally in order to do that.
It's very simple.
It's a simple first step.
And you’ve reminded yourself by doing that, there's always an opportunity to refocus your attention, and release unwanted mental activity, and just come into presence.
And, of course, you shared this experience with a community — a community that wants you to triumph, that wants you to move past current life struggles and get back to feeling your best.
So let's finish up by taking one more deep breath.
—
Hold it.
Hold it.
Hold it.
Hold it.
—
Release.
Okay, can you notice whether your mind state has shifted at all in the last few minutes?
Are you feeling less horrible?
I hope you do.
We offer ways to shift deeper into presence anytime.
And other than that, I suggest just try to have a great rest of your day.
And come back and see us anytime.
All right, bye bye.
Sean
More about the OnePerfect app
It’s very personal.
One big reason that the app is very personal is that you can add your own personally recorded insights into your own app Shifts — so they become extremely targeted to your personal objectives.
The app also tracks your progress and has lots of targeted multimedia Shifts and programs.
You can download the app and use the free trial month to see if you like it.
Over 95% of surveyed app users report being able to shift effectively in 5-10 minutes
Try it for a while to see if you like the benefits.
Did you know that the OnePerfect app is free if your employer, your school, or some other organization subscribes on your behalf?
Feel free to tell an organization you care about to contact us for a free trial.
More Support
As a clinical psychologist I’m not allowed to provide direct personal feedback or mental health advice through OnePerfect Shift.
However, if your employer subscribes to OnePerfect for you, you’ll find links to support that your employer provides on your OnePerfect app profile screen.
Wanna Talk About It is another good place to begin connecting with support.
